Arms Industries and Trade

On February 17, 2015, the State Department released the U.S. policy designed to govern the international sale, transfer, and use of U.S.-origin military and commercial Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), also called drones. Related regulation on U.S. military transfers include the U.S. Conventional Arms Transfer Policy, Arms Export Control Act, and the Foreign Assistance Act.

The United Nations General Assembly adopted the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) on April 2, 2013. The press release says the treaty makes it "harder for human rights abusers, criminals and arms traffickers to obtain weapons" and gives a brief history of the treaty from the 1990s. ATT went into effect December 24, 2014. The United States signed the treaty, but Senate has not yet ratified it.

On August 9. 2014, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel spoke at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi about the U.S.-India cooperation and about U.S.-India military-to-military relations. Secretary Hagel discussed India's contributions to regional security and joint military exercises like MALABAR and economic partnerships such as the U.S.-India Defense Trade and Technology Initiative (DTTI).

In 1977, President Jimmy Carter released a policy for setting controls on transferring U.S. arms, except for countries with whom the United States had defense treaties. The policy requires an evaluation of a country's human rights record and the economic impact such transfers would have on countries receiving U.S. economic assistance. In February 1995, President Bill Clinton approved a classified policy which included restraints for arms transfers that may be destabilize or threaten to regional peace and security. In January 2014, President Barack Obama updated the policy again with Presidential Policy Directive 27 (PPD-27), to state more clearly the criteria for arms transfer decisions and the transfer of technical data and related services.

Julia Sweig argues that the Obama administration should tighten regulations of firearm sales—both at the domestic and at the import-and-export level—in order to reduce rates of gun violence in Latin America.

Jonathan Caverly and Ethan Kapstein maintained that the United States' domination of the global arms market is disappearing and that as a consequence, Washington is squandering an array of economic and political benefits. Critics dispute the point; Caverley and Kapstein respond.

Boeing Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer Jim McNerney discusses the involvement of the business community in foreign policy; U.S. global competitiveness and the challenge of balancing fiscal austerity with necessary technology and innovation investment; and Boeing's outlook for the future.

The CEO Speaker series is a unique forum for leading global CEOs to share their insights on issues that are at the center of commerce and foreign policy and to speak to the changing role of business in the international community. The series, sponsored by the Corporate Program, is one way that CFR seeks to integrate perspectives from the business community into ongoing dialogues on pressing policy issues, such as the international economic recovery, sustainable growth and job creation, and the expanding reach and impact of technology.

The International Instrument to Enable States to Identify and Trace, in a Timely and Reliable Manner, Illicit Small Arms and Light Weapons was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 8, 2005.

CFR Experts Guide

The Council on Foreign Relations' David Rockefeller Studies Program—CFR's "think tank"—is home to more than seventy full-time, adjunct, and visiting scholars and practitioners (called "fellows"). Their expertise covers the world's major regions as well as the critical issues shaping today's global agenda. Download the printable CFR Experts Guide.

The authors argue that the United States has responded inadequately to the rise of Chinese power and recommend placing less strategic emphasis on the goal of integrating China into the international system and more on balancing China's rise.

Campbell evaluates the implications of the Boko Haram insurgency and recommends that the United States support Nigerian efforts to address the drivers of Boko Haram, such as poverty and corruption, and to foster stronger ties with Nigerian civil society.

2014 Annual Report

Learn more about CFR’s mission and its work over the past year in the 2014 Annual Report. The Annual Report spotlights new initiatives, high-profile events, and authoritative scholarship from CFR experts, and includes a message from CFR President Richard N. Haass.Read and download »